Saturday, January 30, 2010

82Kms Tamdi Surla Ride

The total distance covered - 82Kms, Ride Time - 4hrs 28mins

 Today's ride began at 6:50am. I had not decided the route yet, at the Amigos Hotel Junction I had a choice to take a highway to Panaji or ride in opposite direction towards Bondla or Tamdi Surla! After riding for a kilometer towars Panaji I turned back and heade for Tamdi Surla!

Tamdi Surla is known for its 14th century Mahadev Temple. The Temple lies within Mollem sanctuary. The temple has high rise mountains for the back drop. 95% of the road is very good for road biking, with rolling topography and very light traffic!

Near to the temple the road skirts along a beautiful stream, this place is Birder's paradise. Black Headed Oriole, Malabar Grey Hornbill, Malabar Whistling Thrush, Blossom Headed Parakeet, Racket Tailed Drongo, Ruby Throated Yellow Bulbul and many more rarieties are easily spotted here!

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Couple of Good Cycling Routes Around Ponda

One cannot ride a single kilometer in Ponda without hitting a climb. The roads here are cascade of ups and downs. There are many good routes around Ponda to ride your cycle,provided you do not mind sweating it out. Here are the route mas of couple of rides I do regularly

Route 1 Betoda to Engineering College Via Veling 22Kms loop
This route is a challenge, the 2Km stretch is real grueling climb, in just couple of kms you will be elevated to 150m with 5%,6% and 7% gradients


Route 2 Betoda - Kahndepar Road - Keri - Ponda - Betoda 24Kms loop